Abstract
The impact of bacterial diseases and the development of effective antimicrobial agents have drawn much consideration as a main healthcare challenge. The effects of montmorillonite/silver nanocomposites (MMT/Ag NCs) as a nanofiller on mechanical and thermal properties of linear low-density polyethylene/ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers blend (LLDPE/EVA) had been investigated. The antimicrobial potential of the synthesized samples had been studied. The developed LLDPE/EVA/MMT/Ag nanocomposites films (NCFs) had been characterized by UV-Vis. spectroscopy, FTIR and XRD analysis. The mechanical, and thermal properties of LLDPE/EVA/MMT/Ag NCFs had been investigated. The results showed that incorporating the MMT/Ag NCs at lower phr (part per hundred resins) content resulted in both improvement in the mechanical properties and the thermal stability. The antimicrobial results demonstrated that LLDPE/EVA blend with 5 phr MMT/Ag NCs possesses the most powerful impact on the tested microbes. The SEM analysis of the treated cells showed, noticeable morphological abnormalities (the complete lysis of the outer surface followed by deformations of cells). Accordingly, the synthesized nanocomposites open the area of interest for possible application in a broad range of purposes like environmental and biomedical applications.